We work closely with the principal or school counselor, social worker,
teachers, secretaries, or appointed school staff to create the mentor
cells and align them with the mentor’s schedule.
Strategy 3: Issue-oriented Curriculum
The TALKS curriculum was designed to help average adults com-
municate effectively with young people about relevant issues. You
don’t have to be a seasoned expert in working with youth or a trained
teacher to use this curriculum, which consists of student texts and
mentor guides for male mentors and boys (“Talks My Father Never
Had with Me”) and student texts and mentor guides for female men-
tors and girls (“Talks My Mother Never Had with Me”).
These are issue-oriented guides. Each chapter deals with a sepa-
rate topic. One advantage of using such a text is that the book is the
“villain.” The text itself is the bad guy when you are reading it with
the children. Eventually, something will come up that each student
doesn’t like. No one can say that the mentor is picking on them if you
start in chapter 1 and proceed systematically. The text makes it easier
to discuss hard issues, because the children feel free to disagree with
the author, which frees and enlivens the dialogue. And the mentor is
free to share his or her opinion without stifling further conversation
on the matter.
The TALKS mentoring movement is intended to address the
needs of all children as they grow to adolescence and young adult-
hood. We emphasize their leadership potential, focusing on the men-
toring time as an opportunity to gain wisdom and skills that will
benefit them for years to come.
I occasionally get letters that share how the TALKS program has
blessed a student. Here’s a portion of one from a middle school
teacher:
William was a student who was on his way to being retained in the
seventh grade. In his case intelligence was not the problem, but
rather a propensity for trouble. After being in the [TALKS] pro-
gram and working with his mentor, William is now doing well
enough to be promoted. Now, this is not to say that there haven’t170 BUILDINGSTRONGFAMILIES